Common Employer Mistakes: Overtime Pay

You are generally entitled to overtime if you work more than forty hours in a single week, even if you are a salaried employee. Some employers believe that they can pay you for your overtime through various methods, such as comp time, bonuses, and gifts, instead of through actual overtime pay. They are wrong. Federal law is clear that overtime pay (at a minimum, time-and-a-half for every hour over forty) is the only legal way to compensate employees for overtime. If you are receiving comp time, bonuses, gifts, or anything else besides time-and-a-half overtime pay, then your employer is violating federal overtime law.

Employers also frequently and mistakenly believe that salaried employees are not entitled to overtime. That too is wrong. Even if you receive a salary, the presumption under federal law is still that you are entitled to overtime. Salaried employees who do not receive overtime pay but believe that they are entitled to it need to consult an attorney to determine whether their job position and duties eliminate their entitlement to overtime or whether their employer is illegally failing to pay overtime to them.

Federal law requires that employers pay the attorney fees and litigation expenses of employees who successfully sue for a violation of federal overtime laws. Because there are many issues that need to be reviewed and analyzed in overtime matters, you should contact an attorney if you believe that your employer violated federal overtime laws.